Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (Russian: Василий Иванович Суриков; 24 January 1848, Krasnoyarsk - 19 March 1916, Moscow) was a Russian Realisthistory painter. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illustrations.

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He was born to an old Don Cossack family that had settled in Siberia.[1] His father was a Collegiate Registrar, a civil service rank that often served as postmasters. In 1854, as a result of his father being reassigned, the family moved to the village of Sukhobuzimskoye, where he began his primary education.

In 1859, his father died of tuberculosis so the family returned to Krasnoyarsk and were forced to rent the second floor of their house to survive financially. He began drawing while attending the district school and was encouraged by the local art teacher. His first formal work dates from 1862, but his family could not afford to continue his education and he became a clerk in a government office. This brought him into contact with Pavel Zamyatin (ru), the Governor of Yenisei, who was able to find him a patron: Pyotr Kuznetsov (ru), a local merchant who owned several small gold mines.[2]

In 1877, he received a commission to paint murals at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (then still under construction) and he moved to Moscow.[2] Unable to afford a house, he lived in rented apartments and hotels and visited Krasnoyarsk whenever possible. In 1878, he married Elisabeth Charais (1858-1888), a French woman who was descended from the Decembrist, Pyotr Svistunov (ru), on her mother's side.[1] They had two daughters.

After that, he chose to remain in Moscow and began the series of historical paintings that would establish his reputation, starting with The Morning of the Streltsy Execution. In 1881, he had his first exhibition with the Peredvizhniki, an artists' cooperative.[1] In 1883, Menshikov in Beryozovo was bought by Pavel Tretyakov for a sum that allowed him to take a European tour. In 1887, he added portraits to his repertoire, beginning with one of his mother.[2]

In 1888, his wife died, and he returned to Krasnoyarsk with his daughters for two years. There he painted his most lighthearted picture, The Capture of Snow Town. This was followed by a visit to his ancestral home in Siberia. There, on the Ob River, he made sketches for one of his most familiar works, The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak Timofeyevich (an event in which some of his ancestors had participated).[2] This brought him a full membership in the Imperial Academy.[1] In 1897, he visited Switzerland and painted Suvorov Crossing the Alps, which was purchased by Tsar Nicholas II.

In 1907, he left the Peredvizhniki and joined the Union of Russian Artists. Three years later, he visited Spain, together with his son-in-law, Pyotr Konchalovsky.[2] That same year, he and the architect Leonid Chernishyov (ru) opened an art school. Four years later, he had an extended stay in Krasnoyarsk, painting landscapes.

By this time, he was suffering from chronic coronary disease. A trip to Crimea for treatment in 1915 failed to ameliorate the problem and he died early the following year after returning to Moscow. He was buried at Vagankovo Cemetery, next to his wife.[1]

1.
Krasnoyarsk
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Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk and Omsk, Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russias largest producers of aluminum. The city is notable for its landscapes, author Anton Chekhov judged Krasnoyarsk to be the most beautiful city in Siberia. The total area of the city, including suburbs and the river, is 348 square kilometers, the Yenisei River flows from west to east through the city. Due to the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam 32 kilometers upstream, the Yenisei never freezes in winter and never exceeds +14 °C in summer through the city, near the city center, its elevation is 136 meters above sea level. There are several islands in the river, the largest of which are Tatyshev and Otdyha Isles, to the south and west, Krasnoyarsk is surrounded by forested mountains averaging 410 meters in height above river level. The most prominent of them are Nikolayevskaya Sopka, Karaulnaya Gora, and Chornaya Sopka, the major rivers in and near Krasnoyarsk are the Yenisei, Mana, Bazaikha, and Kacha Rivers, the latter flowing throughout the historical center of the city. Due to the nature of the terrain, a few lakes exist in the vicinity of Krasnoyarsk. The forests close to the city are mostly pine and birch, further afield, along with Kansk to the east, it represented the southern limit of Russian expansion in the Yenisei basin during the seventeenth century. In the letter to Tsar Michael I the Cossacks reported, the fort was named Krasny Yar after the Yarin name of the place it was built, Kyzyl Char, which was translated as Krasny Yar. An intensive growth of Krasnoyarsk began with the arrival of the Siberian Route in 1735 to 1741 which connected the towns of Achinsk and Kansk with Krasnoyarsk. In 1749, a meteorite with a mass of about 700 kilograms was found 230 km south of Krasnoyarsk and it was excavated by Peter Simon Pallas in 1772 and transported to Krasnoyarsk and subsequently to St. Petersburg. The Krasnoyarsk meteorite is important because it was the first pallasite ever studied, the name Krasnoyarsk was given in 1822 when the village of Krasny Yar was granted town status and became the administrative center of Yeniseysk Governorate. In the 19th century, Krasnoyarsk was the center of the Siberian Cossack movement, by the end of the 19th century, Krasnoyarsk had several manufacturing facilities and railroad workshops and an engine-house. Growth continued with the discovery of gold and the arrival of a railroad in 1895, in the Russian Empire, Krasnoyarsk was one of the places to which political exiles were banished. For example, eight Decembrists were deported from St. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk after the failure of the revolt, in 1934, Krasnoyarsk Krai, was formed, with Krasnoyarsk as its administrative center. During Stalinist times, Krasnoyarsk was a center of the gulag system. The most important labor camp was the Kraslag or Krasnoyarsky ITL with the two located in Kansk and Reshyoty

2.
Yeniseysk Governorate
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Yeniseysk Governorate was a governorate of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. The Governorate was established on January 26,1822 when the territory of Siberia was divided into two general, West Siberian and East Siberian. Yeniseysk Governorate, with the center of Krasnoyarsk, became a part of East Siberian Governorate General. As of its foundation, the governorate included five okrugs, Achinsky, Kansky, Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsky, on April 17,1914, Uryankhay Krai was added to Yeniseysk Governorate. This krai existed until August 14,1921, when it was incorporated as the Tuvan Peoples Republic independent of Russia, apart from Mongolia, however, no other country recognized its independence. On November 14,1923, parts of the governorates Minusinsky and Achinsky Uyezds were merged with one volost of Kuznetsky Uyezd of Tomsk Governorate to form new Khakassky Uyezd, on March 19,1924, Siberian Revolutionary Committee approved the enlargement of the governorates uyezds. On June 23,1924, new Turukhansky Uyezd was formed in the governorate and its Yuzhnaya Volost was formed on the part of the territory of Antsiferovskaya Volost of Yeniseysky Uyezd. After that, Yeniseysky Uyezd itself was abolished and its territory split between Kansky and Krasnoyarsky Uyezds. At the same time, Daurskaya Volost of Achinsky Uyezd was transferred to Krasnoyarsky Uyezd, also in 1924, parts of Znamenskaya and Tashtypskaya Volosts of Minusinsky Uyezd were transferred to Khakassky Uyezd. The former territory became a part of Charkovskaya Enlarged Volost, while the latter was merged into Tashtypskaya Enlarged Volost, Административно-территориальное деление Сибири, Западной Сибири, Новосибирской области

3.
Russian Empire
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The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until it was overthrown by the short-lived February Revolution in 1917. One of the largest empires in history, stretching over three continents, the Russian Empire was surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires. The rise of the Russian Empire happened in association with the decline of neighboring powers, the Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Persia. It played a role in 1812–14 in defeating Napoleons ambitions to control Europe. The House of Romanov ruled the Russian Empire from 1721 until 1762, and its German-descended cadet branch, with 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third-largest population in the world at the time, after Qing China and India. Like all empires, it included a large disparity in terms of economics, ethnicity, there were numerous dissident elements, who launched numerous rebellions and assassination attempts, they were closely watched by the secret police, with thousands exiled to Siberia. Economically, the empire had an agricultural base, with low productivity on large estates worked by serfs. The economy slowly industrialized with the help of foreign investments in railways, the land was ruled by a nobility from the 10th through the 17th centuries, and subsequently by an emperor. Tsar Ivan III laid the groundwork for the empire that later emerged and he tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde, renovated the Moscow Kremlin, and laid the foundations of the Russian state. Tsar Peter the Great fought numerous wars and expanded an already huge empire into a major European power, Catherine the Great presided over a golden age. She expanded the state by conquest, colonization and diplomacy, continuing Peter the Greats policy of modernisation along West European lines, Tsar Alexander II promoted numerous reforms, most dramatically the emancipation of all 23 million serfs in 1861. His policy in Eastern Europe involved protecting the Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and that connection by 1914 led to Russias entry into the First World War on the side of France, Britain, and Serbia, against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires. The Russian Empire functioned as a monarchy until the Revolution of 1905. The empire collapsed during the February Revolution of 1917, largely as a result of failures in its participation in the First World War. Perhaps the latter was done to make Europe recognize Russia as more of a European country, Poland was divided in the 1790-1815 era, with much of the land and population going to Russia. Most of the 19th century growth came from adding territory in Asia, Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major role in introducing his country to the European state system. However, this vast land had a population of 14 million, grain yields trailed behind those of agriculture in the West, compelling nearly the entire population to farm. Only a small percentage lived in towns, the class of kholops, close to the one of slavery, remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter I converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them in poll taxation

4.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality

5.
Vagankovo Cemetery
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Vagankovo Cemetery, established in 1771, is located in the Presnya district of Moscow. It started in the aftermath of the Moscow plague riot of 1771 outside the city proper, half a million people are estimated to have been buried at Vagankovo throughout its history. As of 2010, the cemetery contains more than 100,000 graves. The vast necropolis contains the graves from the Battle of Borodino, the Battle of Moscow. It is the site for a number of people from the artistic and sports community of Russia. The cemetery is served by several Orthodox churches constructed between 1819 and 1823 in the Muscovite version of the Empire style

6.
Imperial Academy of Arts
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The Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, the academy promoted the neoclassical style and technique, and sent its promising students to European capitals for further study. Training at the academy was virtually required for artists to make successful careers, formally abolished in 1918 after the Russian Revolution, the academy was renamed several times. It established free tuition, students from across the country competed fiercely for its few places annually, in 1947 the national institution was moved to Moscow, and much of its art collection was moved to the Hermitage. The building in Leningrad was devoted to the Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, since 1991 it has been called the St. Petersburg Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The academy was located in the Shuvalov Palace on Sadovaya Street, in 1764, Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned its first rector, Alexander Kokorinov, to design a new building. It took 25 years to complete the Neoclassical edifice, which opened in 1789, konstantin Thon was responsible for the sumptuous decoration of the interiors. He also designed a quayside in front of the building, with stairs down to the Neva River, Ivan Betskoy reorganized the academy into a de facto government department, it supervised matters concerning art throughout the country, distributing orders and awarding ranks to artists. The academy vigorously promoted the principles of Neoclassicism by sending the most notable Russian painters abroad, in order to learn the ancient and Renaissance styles of Italy and it also had its own sizable collection of choice artworks intended for study and copying. The adherents of this movement became known as peredvizhniki, led by Ivan Kramskoi, they publicly broke with the Academy and organized their own exhibitions, which traveled from town to town across Russia. Ilya Repin, Mikhail Vrubel and some other painters still regarded the academys training as indispensable for the development of professional and technical skills. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Imperial Academy passed through a series of transformations, after the Academys move to Moscow that year, the building in what was then called Leningrad was renamed Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The national academy has stayed in Moscow, in 1991 it was renamed the Russian Academy of Arts. The old academys art collection, which included works by Poussin, David. During the Soviet era, academies were free of tuition fees as they were financed by the government, many would-be students would apply to the Academy for as many as six or seven years in a row without success. With just twenty places available and thousands of applicants, the competition was brutal, well-known graduates of Ilya Repin Leningrad Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1930–1950s include, The Russian Academy of Arts has been headquartered in Moscow since 1947. Its current president is Zurab Tsereteli and its vice-president is Tair Salakhov and it is also called the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts, Sculpture and Architecture. - Saint Petersburg, NP-Print Edition,2007, the Leningrad School Russian Academy of Arts The St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts Sergei V. Ivanov

7.
Realism (arts)
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Realism in the arts is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements. Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods, and is in part a matter of technique and training. In the visual arts, illusionistic realism is the depiction of lifeforms, perspective. Realist works of art may emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid, such as works of realism, regionalism. There have been various movements in the arts, such as the opera style of verismo, literary realism, theatrical realism. The realism art movement in painting began in France in the 1850s, the realist painters rejected Romanticism, which had come to dominate French literature and art, with roots in the late 18th century. Realism is the precise, detailed and accurate representation in art of the appearance of scenes. Realism in this sense is also called naturalism, mimesis or illusionism, realistic art was created in many periods, and it is in large part a matter of technique and training, and the avoidance of stylization. It becomes especially marked in European painting in the Early Netherlandish painting of Jan van Eyck, however such realism is often used to depict, for example, angels with wings, which were not things the artists had ever seen in real life. It is the choice and treatment of matter that defines Realism as a movement in painting. The development of increasingly accurate representation of the appearances of things has a long history in art. It includes elements such as the depiction of the anatomy of humans and animals, of perspective and effects of distance. Ancient Greek art is recognised as having made great progress in the representation of anatomy. Pliny the Elders famous story of birds pecking at grapes painted by Zeuxis in the 5th century BC may well be a legend, roman portraiture, when not under too much Greek influence, shows a greater commitment to a truthful depiction of its subjects. The art of Late Antiquity famously rejected illusionism for expressive force, scientific methods of representing perspective were developed in Italy and gradually spread across Europe, and accuracy in anatomy rediscovered under the influence of classical art. As in classical times, idealism remained the norm, intriguingly, having led the development of illusionic painting, still life was to be equally significant in its abandonment in Cubism. The depiction of ordinary, everyday subjects in art also has a history, though it was often squeezed into the edges of compositions. However these objects are at least largely there because they carry layers of complex significance, pieter Bruegel the Elder pioneered large panoramic scenes of peasant life

8.
History painting
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History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than artistic style. History paintings usually depict a moment in a story, rather than a specific and static subject. The term is derived from the senses of the word historia in Latin and Italian, meaning story or narrative. Most history paintings are not of scenes from history, especially paintings from before about 1850, History paintings almost always contain a number of figures, often a large number, and normally show some type of action that is a moment in a narrative. The genre includes depictions of moments in religious narratives, above all the Life of Christ, as well as scenes from mythology. These groups were for long the most frequently painted, works such as Michelangelos Sistine Chapel ceiling are therefore history paintings, History painting may be used interchangeably with historical painting, and was especially so used before the 20th century. Where a distinction is made historical painting is the painting of scenes from secular history, in the 19th century historical painting in this sense became a distinct genre. In phrases such as historical painting materials, historical means in use before about 1900 and he placed emphasis on the ability to depict the interactions between the figures by gesture and expression. This view remained general until the 19th century, when artistic movements began to struggle against the establishment institutions of academic art, which continued to adhere to it. Scenes from ancient history had been popular in the early Renaissance, and once again became common in the Baroque and Rococo periods, and still more so with the rise of Neoclassicism. In some 19th or 20th century contexts, the term may refer specifically to paintings of scenes from history, rather than those from religious narratives. Scenes from ancient history and mythology were also popular, artists continued for centuries to strive to make their reputation by producing such works, often neglecting genres to which their talents were better suited. The large works of Raphael were long considered, with those of Michelangelo, un Peintre qui ne fait que des portraits, na pas encore cette haute perfection de lArt, & ne peut prétendre à lhonneur que reçoivent les plus sçavans. He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, a painter who only does portraits still does not have the highest perfection of his art, and cannot expect the honour due to the most skilled. By the late 18th century, with religious and mytholological painting in decline, there was an increased demand for paintings of scenes from history. Classical history remained popular, but scenes from national histories were often the best-received, the unheroic nature of modern dress was regarded as a serious difficulty. When, in 1770, Benjamin West proposed to paint The Death of General Wolfe in contemporary dress and he ignored these comments and showed the scene in modern dress. Although George III refused to purchase the work, West succeeded both in overcoming his critics objections and inaugurating a more historically accurate style in such paintings. M. W, conveniently their clothes had been worn away to classical-seeming rags by the point the painting depicts

9.
Pavel Tretyakov
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Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gallery and Tretyakov Drive in Moscow. His brother Sergei Tretyakov was also a patron of art. In the first half of 1850 he inherited his fathers business and built up a trade in flax, linen processing. Together with other Moscow businessmen he acted as the founder of the Moscow merchant bank and he amassed a considerable fortune, consisting of real estate, securities, money and bills. Tretyakov started to collect art in 1854 at the age of 22 and he laid down for himself the aim of creating a Russian National Gallery. In his collection Tretyakov included the most valuable and remarkable products, first of all the contemporaries and he bought paintings at exhibitions and directly from artists studios, sometimes he bought the whole series, in 1874 he acquired V. V. Vereschagins Turkestan series, in 1880 - his Indian series, in his collection there were over 80 studies by Alexander Ivanov. In 1885 Tretyakov bought 102 studies by V. D, polenov painted by the artist during journeys across Turkey, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. He got also acquired Vasnetsov’s collection of the sketches made during work above lists in the Kiev St Volodymyrs Cathedral, Tretyakov had the fullest collection of such artists as, V. G. Kramskoi, Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov, I. I and he also conceived the creation of a Russian pantheon - a portrait gallery of famous Russians. He commissioned especially for it portraits of figures of culture from leading masters of this genre - N. N. Ge, Kramskoi, N. V. Nevrev, Perov, in 1870-80 Tretyakov also began to collect illustrations, since 1890 he formed a collection of icons. During his lifetime they were not included in an exhibition, being kept in the owners study and he also collected sculpture, however this part of his collection was small. At first the gallery was located in Tretyakov’s house in Lavrushenski pereulok, but as his collection expanded he decided to reconstruct his house for his collection. In 1870-1880 the house was reconstructed by the architect Kaminski. Tretyakov wanted to transfer the gallery to the city as discreetly as possible, without any noise, he want to be in the center of general attention. But it was not possible to do it and he was very dissatisfied, from 1881 his gallery became popular. In 1892 Tretyakov inherited a collection of Western European painting from his brother, the collection in Tretyakov’s gallery was equal in importance with the largest museums in Russia at that time, and became one of sights of Moscow

10.
Don Cossack
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Don Cossacks are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. As of 1992, by the decree of the Russian Federation. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further the Cossack cultural traditions, Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participating in most of its major wars. The name Cossack was widely used to free people as opposed to others with different standing in a feudal society. The word cossack was also applied to migrants, free-booters and bandits, the exact origins of Cossacks are unknown. More than two years ago the Scythians lived on the banks of the river Don. Many Scythian tombs have found in this area. Subsequently, the area was inhabited by the Khazars and the Polovtsians, the steppes of the Don River were called The Wild Field. The area was under the control of the Golden Horde. The first Christians to settle on the territories around the Don were the Jassi, after the fall of the Golden Horde in 1480, more Russian colonists started to expand onto this land from the Novgorod Republic after the Battle of Shelon and from neighboring Principality of Ryazan. Until the end of the 16th century, the Don Cossacks inhabited independent free territories, Cossacks of Ryazan are mentioned in 1444 as a defenders of Pereslavl-Zalessky against the units of Golden Horde and in a letter of Ivan III of Russia since 1502. After the Golden Horde fell in 1480, the area around the Don River was divided between the Crimean west side and the Nogai east side, in the course of time they turned into a united community and were called the Cossacks. At first the main occupation of these armed detachments was hunting and fishing—as well as the constant struggle against the Turks. Only later they began to settle and work on the land, the first records relating to the Cossack villages, the stanitsa, date back to 1549. In the year 1552 Don Cossacks under the command of Ataman Susar Fedorov joined the Army of Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan in 1552. On 2 June 1556 the Cossack regiment of Ataman Lyapun Filimonov, together with the Army of Moscovits comprising strelets, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the ataman Yermak Timofeyevich went on an expedition to conquer Siberia. After defeating Khan Kuchum in the fall of 1582 and occupying Isker, the detachment led by Bogdan Bryazga, passed through the lands of the Konda-Pelym Voguls and reached the walls of the town of Samarovo. Taken by surprise by the attack, the Ostyaks surrendered

11.
Table of Ranks
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The Table of Ranks was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the hereditary nobility. The Table of Ranks was formally abolished on 11 November 1917 by the newly established Bolshevik government, the table divided ranks in 14 grades, with all nobles regardless of birth or wealth beginning at the bottom of the table and rising through their service to the tsar. While all grades were open by merit, promotion required qualification for the next rank, peters intentions for a class of nobles bound to the tsar by their personal service to him were watered down by subsequent tsars. In 1762 Peter III abolished the compulsory 25-year military or civilian service for nobles, in 1767 Catherine the Great bought the support of the bureaucracy by making promotion up the 14 ranks automatic after seven years regardless of position or merit. Thus the bureaucracy became populated with time servers, achieving a certain level in the table automatically granted a certain level of nobility. A civil servant promoted to the 14th grade gained personal nobility, nicholas I raised this threshold to the 5th grade in 1845. In 1856 the grades required for hereditary nobility were raised to the 4th grade for the civil service, the father of Vladimir Lenin progressed in the management of education, reaching the 4th rank and becoming an active state councillor, which gave him the privilege of hereditary nobility. With occasional revisions, the Table of Ranks remained in effect until the Russian Revolution of 1917 and he laid down that fines of two months salary should be assessed against those falsely claiming a higher rank or gaining a rank without qualification. The first complete translation into English of the original Table of Ranks promulgated by Peter the Great in 1722 was presented by Brazilian historian Angelo Segrillo in 2016 and it is available online at http, //lea. vitis. uspnet. usp. br/arquivos/arttableofrankslea. pdf. The Social Reform — The Table of Ranks, Peter the Great, his life and work. Table of Ranks Peter Is originalTable of Ranks

12.
Postmaster
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A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization, in the United States, women have served as postmasters since the Revolutionary War and even earlier, under British rule. In Canada, many places are named after the first postmaster. In the days of horse-drawn carriages, a postmaster was an individual from whom horses and/or riders could be hired, the postmaster would reside in a post house. In the United States, many postmasters are members of a management organization which consults with the United States Postal Service for compensation, the level of pay is based on deliveries and revenue of the post office. Levels are from EAS18 through 26, smaller remotely managed post offices no longer have Postmasters and report to a nearby larger office. Larger metropolitan post offices are PCES

13.
Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts
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The Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts was an organization devoted to promoting the arts that existed in Saint Petersburg from 1820 to 1929. It was the oldest society of its kind in Russia, until 1882 it was called the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. After 1917, it became the All-Russian Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, in 1833, Tsar Nicholas I formally confirmed the Societys existence by law and placed it under his personal protection. Before then, many young artists benefited from Society grants that enabled them to study overseas, among them were Karl Bryullov and Alexander Brullov in 1822, Alexander Ivanov in 1827 and Alexey Tyranov in 1830. In 1860, the Society established a competition for painting. That same year, according to the Societys records, their exhibitions had attracted 56,000 visitors, works were sold to the value of 33,900 Rubles, in fact, after 1840, the Society was managed by various members of the family. Duke Maximilian held that position until 1851, followed by his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, his daughter, Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna, after the Revolution, the Society gave up its charitable activities and became a sort of art club with educational functions. In 1924, it came under control of the State Academy of History of Material Culture, the Drawing School was created by a decree of Tsar Nicholas I in 1839. At first, the school taught only sketching and drawing and its objective was to enable artists to participate in crafts and industrial activities, as well as training teachers. Students were admitted all year and the lessons were free, until 1858, after which all, in 1889, a satellite school for low-income children was opened in the suburbs. In 1906, Nicholas Roerich was named Director and he created workshops for sewing and weaving, iconography, ceramics and porcelain painting. In addition, he hired well-known artists as instructors, including Ivan Bilibin, Dmitry Kardovsky, after the October Revolution, all of the schools courses were consolidated into a single course on painting and technical drawing, taught free in a building on Liteyny Avenue. Later, the course was transferred to what became known as the Tavricheskaya Art School, current photographs and a history of the Societys building @ Citywalls

14.
Pavel Chistyakov
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Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (Russian, Павел Петрович Чистяков, was a Russian painter and art teacher, known for historical and genre scenes as well as portraits. His father was a serf who had worked as an estate manager. Despite the financial burdens, he saw to it that his son had an education, first at a parish school in Krasny Kholm. In 1849, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied with Pyotr Basin, from 1854 to 1858, he received two silver medals and one gold, for his depiction of Hermogenes in prison. In 1861, he graduated with the title of Artist, another gold medal, before leaving, he taught for a short time at a preparatory school in Saint Petersburg. In 1862, he headed for Germany, followed by visits to Paris. Upon returning in 1870, he was awarded the title of Academician for several works he had sent home and his few works were mostly of an historical nature, which he attempted to infuse with a psychological depth, rather than merely representing the events. He became an Associate Professor at the Academy in 1872 and, following the reorganization of 1892, from 1890 to 1912, he served as head of the Department of Mosaics and oversaw several mosaic projects, notably at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Saint Isaacs Cathedral. His wife Vera, daughter of the painter Yegor Meyer, was also an artist of some note, the street where he lived was named in his honor and, in 1987, his home became a museum. Чистяков и его педагогическая система, Искусство,1940 Olga Lyaskovskaya, Чистяков, Tretyakov Gallery,1950 Чистяков П. Чистяков — теоретик и пед, 590pgs, Искусство,1953 Ely Bielutin and Nina Moleva, Павел Петрович Чистяков. теоретик и педагог, Академии художесть,1954, yelena Churilova, Я ещё могу съездить к Чистякову, Прана,2004 ISBN 5-86761-054-3 Biography and appreciation @ the Bezhetsk website

15.
Bogdan Willewalde
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Bogdan Pavlovich Willewalde was a Russian artist, academic, emeritus Professor of military art, and a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Bogdan Willewalde was born in Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg on January 12,1819, from childhood, he was acquainted with and a playmate of the Russian Grand Dukes and intimately connected to the Imperial family and its official hierarchy. His initial art studies were with Jungstedt, following which he was admitted to the St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts in 1838 and he studied under Karl Bryullov and Alexander Sauerweid. In the 1840s, having achieved success in his academic studies, in 1844, he was recalled to St Petersburg upon the death of Sauerweid, to finish the latters cycle of the Russian war against Napoleon. In 1848, he was appointed as professor in the Imperial Academy of Arts, most of the material in this section has been taken from the Encyclopedia of War edited by K. I. At the beginning of his career, Willewalde was influenced by German masters, especially the Munich-based Peter von Hess. He then became a follower of the French artist Horace Vernet, although he could not quite match the latters ease of brush-stroke, Willewalde joined the Russian army as well, and made sketches and etudes whilst on service, after which he would complete his monumental canvases. Having been commissioned to paint The Capture of Shamil, he travelled to the Caucasus to observe the landscape, in Dagestan, he created several hundred watercolours and sketches that today hold immense historical importance. Willewalde also painted some of the wars of the 1870s, although to an extent, Gravelotte, Battle on the Danube. In his final period, Willewalde returned to his favourite and most thoroughly researched topic, Willewalde was held in high esteem by the Imperial court and received several commissions to depict the members of the court in various ceremonial situations. In 1859, he created a monumental canvas Ceremonial Entry of Their Imperial Majesties into Moscow before their Sacred Coronation August 17,1859 in honour of the coronation of Czar Alexander II. Following this success, he was asked to depict the anointment of Grand Duke Nicholas as heir to the Imperial throne, the painting titled The Oath of His Imperial Highness Prince Nikolai Alexandrovich at the Georgiev Throne Hall of the Winter Palace. Willewalde remained the head of the art division of the Imperial Academy of Arts till its reform in the 1890s. The excellence of his teaching served to train nearly the entire following generation of Russian military artists, although Willewalde himself was a man of strictly-held consistent views on art and he disliked the younger generation for its various innovations, he was able not to thwart their talents. Such diverse talents as Charlemagne, Filippov, Kovalevsky, Gruzinsky, Popov, Samokysh, Willewalde is one of the main representatives of the dominant type of battle painting of the 19th century, combining its strengths and weaknesses. He remained dependent on the academy which at the supported and maintained the genre of military art. Willewaldes entire oeuvre was circumscribed by these demands, accuracy, depicting the truth as represented by the Russian authorities, finely finished, but never causing worry. The Imperial family and nobility appreciated Willewaldes amazing ability for accurate depiction, to put on canvas the beauty of the world, of fabrics

16.
Composition (visual arts)
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In the visual arts, composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject. It can also be thought of as the organization of the elements of art according to the principles of art, the composition of a picture is different from its subject, which what is shown, whether a moment from a story, a person or a place. Many subjects, for example Saint George and the Dragon, are shown in art. The term composition means putting together and can apply to any work of art, from music to writing to photography, that is arranged using conscious thought. In the visual arts, composition is used interchangeably with various terms such as design, form, visual ordering, or formal structure. In graphic design for press and desktop publishing, composition is referred to as page layout. The various visual elements, known as elements of design, formal elements and these elements in the overall design usually relate to each other and to the whole art work. The optical illusion of lines do exist in nature and visual elements can be arranged to create this illusion. The viewer unconsciously reads near continuous arrangement of different elements and subjects at varying distances, such elements can be of dramatic use in the composition of the image. These could be literal lines such as telephone and power cables or rigging on boats, lines can derive also from the borders of areas of differing color or contrast, or sequences of discrete elements. Movement is also a source of line, and blur can also create a reaction, subject lines contribute to both mood and linear perspective, giving the viewer the illusion of depth. Oblique lines convey a sense of movement and angular lines generally convey a sense of dynamism, lines can also direct attention towards the main subject of picture, or contribute to organization by dividing it into compartments. The artist may exaggerate or create lines perhaps as part of their message to the viewer, many lines without a clear subject point suggest chaos in the image and may conflict with the mood the artist is trying to evoke. Straight left lines create different moods and add affection to visual arts, a lines angle and its relationship to the size of the frame influence the mood of the image. Horizontal lines, commonly found in landscape photography, can give the impression of calm, tranquility, an image filled with strong vertical lines tends to have the impression of height and grandeur. Tightly angled convergent lines give a dynamic, lively, and active effect to the image, strongly angled, almost diagonal lines produce tension in the image. The viewpoint of visual art is important because every different perspective views different angled lines. This change of perspective elicits a different response to the image, by changing the perspective only by some degrees or some centimetres lines in images can change tremendously and a totally different feeling can be transported

17.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
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The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 metres, it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world, the current church is the second to stand on this site. The original church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build and it was destroyed in 1931 on the order of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The demolition was supposed to make way for a colossal Palace of the Soviets to house the countrys legislature, construction started in 1937 but was halted in 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II. Its steel frame was disassembled the year, and the Palace was never built. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the current church was rebuilt on the site during 1995–2000, the original church was the scene of the 1882 world premiere of the 1812 Overture composed by Tchaikovsky, which became internationally famous. It took some time for work on the cathedral to get started. The first finished architectural project, by Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Vitberg, was endorsed by the Tsar in 1817 and it was a flamboyant Neoclassical design full of Freemasonic symbolism. Construction work was begun on the Sparrow Hills, the highest point in Moscow, in the meantime Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas I. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassicism and he commissioned his favorite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, taking as his model Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Turkey. Thons Russian Revival design was approved in 1832, a new site closer to the Moscow Kremlin was chosen by the Tsar in 1837. A convent and church on the site had to be relocated, the cathedral took many decades to build, the scaffolding was not taken down until 1860. Its painting was overseen by Evgraf Sorokin, and thereafter some of the best Russian painters continued to embellish the interior for another twenty years, the cathedral was consecrated on 26 May 1883, the day before Alexander III was crowned. Although Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture was written with the completion in mind. The inner sanctum of the church was ringed by a gallery, its walls inlaid with rare sorts of marble, granite. The ground floor of the gallery was a dedicated to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The walls displayed more than 1,000 square metres of Carrara bianca marble plaques listing major commanders, regiments, the second floor of the gallery was occupied by church choirs. The giant dome of the cathedral was gilded using the new technique of electroplating, replacing the older

18.
Decembrist revolt
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The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising took place in Imperial Russia on 26 December 1825. Russian army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas Is assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession, because these events occurred in December, the rebels were called the Decembrists. This uprising, which was suppressed by Nicholas I, took place in Peters Square in Saint Petersburg, in 1925, to mark the centenary of the event, the square was renamed as Decembrist Square, but in 2008 the name was changed to Senate Square. In 1816, several officers of the Imperial Russian Guard founded a society known as the Union of Salvation, or of the Faithful, the society acquired a more liberal cast after it was joined by the idealistic Pavel Pestel. After a mutiny in the Semenovsky Regiment in 1820, the society decided to suspend activity in 1821, P. Trubetskoy and Prince Eugene Obolensky. The political aims of the more moderate Northern Society were a British style constitutional monarchy with a limited franchise, at first, many officers were encouraged by Tsar Alexanders early liberal reformation of Russian society and politics. In 1819 Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was appointed as the Governor of Siberia, equally, in 1818 the Tsar asked Count Nikolay Nikolayevich Novosiltsev to draw up a constitution. This new lifestyle captured the spirit of the times, as a willingness to embrace both the peasant and ongoing reformative movements abroad and this was later thought of on many occasions, but we soon came to realize that the nobility could not be persuaded. And as time went on we became more convinced, when the Ukrainian nobility absolutely rejected a similar project of their military governor. Historians have also noted that the United States Declaration of Independence may have influenced the revolutionaries, when Tsar Alexander I died on 1 December 1825, the royal guards swore allegiance to the presumed heir, Alexanders brother Constantine. When Constantine made his public, and Nicholas stepped forward to assume the throne. These efforts would culminate in the Decembrist Revolt, the leaders of the society elected Prince Sergei Trubetskoy as interim dictator. They expected to be joined by the rest of the troops stationed in Saint Petersburg, the revolt was further hampered when it was deserted by its supposed leader Prince Trubetskoy, who had a last minute change of heart, and failed to turn up at the Square. His second in command, Colonel Bulatov also vanished from the scene, after a hurried consultation the rebels appointed Prince Eugene Obolensky as a replacement leader. For long hours there was a stand-off between the 3,000 rebels and the 9,000 loyal troops stationed outside the Senate building, a vast crowd of civilian on-lookers began fraternizing with the rebels, but did not join the action. Eventually Nicholas, the new Tsar, appeared in person, at the square, and sent Count Mikhail Miloradovich, Miloradovich was fatally shot by Pyotr Kakhovsky while delivering a public address to defuse the situation. At the same time, a rebelling grenadier squad, led by lieutenant Nikolay Panov, entered the Winter Palace but failed to seize it and retreated. After spending most of the day in fruitless attempts to parley with the force, Nicholas ordered a cavalry charge which slipped on the icy cobbles

19.
Peredvizhniki
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In 1863 a group of fourteen students decided to leave The Imperial Academy of Arts. The students found the rules of the Academy constraining, the teachers were conservative, in an effort to bring art to the people, the students formed an independent artistic society, The Petersburg Cooperative of Artists. The society maintained independence from support and brought the art. From 1871 to 1923, the society arranged 48 mobile exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Moscow, after which they were shown in Kiev, Kharkov, Kazan, Oryol, Riga, Odessa and other cities. Peredvizhniki were influenced by the views of the literary critics Vissarion Belinsky and Nikolai Chernyshevsky. Belinsky thought that literature and art should attribute a social and moral responsibility, like most Slavophiles, Chernyshevsky ardently supported the emancipation of serfs, which was finally realized in the reform of 1861. He viewed press censorship, serfdom, and capital punishment as Western influences, because of his political activism, officials prohibited publication of any of his writing, including his dissertation, but it eventually found its way to the artworld of nineteenth-century Russia. Peredvizhniki portrayed the many-sided aspects of life, often critical of inequities and injustices. But their art showed not only poverty but also the beauty of the way of life, not only suffering but also fortitude. Peredvizhniki condemned the Russian aristocratic orders and autocratic government in their humanistic art and they portrayed the emancipation movement of Russian people with empathy. They portrayed social-urban life, and later used historic art to depict the common people, during their blossoming, the Peredvizhniki society developed an increasingly wider scope, with more natural and free images. In contrast to the dark palette of the time, they chose a lighter palette. They worked for naturalness in their images, and the depiction of peoples relationship with their surroundings, the society united most of the highly talented artists of the country. Among Peredvizhniki there were artists of Ukraine, Latvia, and Armenia, the society also showed the work of Mark Antokolski, Vasili Vereshchagin, and Andrei Ryabushkin. The work of the critic and democrat Vladimir Stasov was important for the development of Peredvizhnikis art, pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov showed the work of these artists in his gallery and gave them important material and moral support. Landscape painting flourished in the 1870s and 1880s, Peredvizhniki painted mainly landscapes, some, like Polenov, used plein air technique. Two painters, Ivan Shishkin and Isaak Levitan, painted landscapes of Russia. Shishkin is still considered to be the Russian Singer of forest, the Russian landscape gained importance as a national icon after Peredvizhniki

20.
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
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A highly appreciated associate and friend of Tsar Peter the Great, he was the de facto ruler of Russia for two years. Menshikov was born on 16 November 1673 in Moscow and it has been disputed by his enemies whether his father was a stablehand or worked on a barge, it is more likely that he was of petty noble stock. As the story goes, he was making a living on the streets of Moscow as a vendor of stuffed buns known as pirozhki at the age of twenty. His fine appearance and witty character caught the attention of Franz Lefort, Peters first favorite, on the death of Lefort in 1699, Menshikov succeeded him as Peters prime favorite and confidant. He took a part in the Azov campaigns against the Ottoman Empire. During the tsars first foreign tour in the year, Menshikov worked by his side in the dockyard of Amsterdam. Around 1706 he had a conflict with Andrew Vinius, Vinius lost all of his land, Menshikov understood perfectly the principles on which Peters reforms were conducted and was the right hand of the tsar in all his gigantic undertakings. But he abused his position, and his corrupt practices frequently brought him to the verge of ruin. Every time the tsar returned to Russia he received fresh accusations of plunder against his Serene Highness, Peters first serious outburst of indignation was due to the princes looting in Poland. On his return to Russia in 1712, Peter discovered that Menshikov had turned an eye to wholesale corruption in his own governor-generalship. Peter warned him for the last time to change his ways, yet, in 1713, he was implicated in the Solovey process, in the course of which it was demonstrated that he had defrauded the government of 100,000 roubles. He only owed his life on occasion to a sudden illness. On his recovery Peters fondness for his friend overcame his sense of justice, in 1714 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the last year of Peters reign new allegations of fraud by Menshikov came to light and it was chiefly through the efforts of Menshikov and his colleague Tolstoi that, on the death of Peter, in 1725, Catherine was raised to the throne. Menshikov was committed to the Petrine system, and he recognised that, if that system were to continue, Catherine was, at particular time. Her name was a watchword for the progressive faction, the placing of her on the throne meant a final victory over ancient prejudices, a vindication of the new ideas of progress, and not least security for Menshikov and his ill-gotten fortune. During Catherines short reign, Menshikov was practically the absolute ruler of Russia and he promoted himself to the unprecedented rank of Generalissimus, and was the only Russian to bear a ducal title. Upon finishing the construction of the Menshikov Palace on the Neva Embankment in St Petersburg, pushkin in one of his poems alluded to Menshikov as half-tsar

21.
Beryozovo, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
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Beryozovo is an urban locality and the administrative center of Beryozovsky District of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River. It is situated on three hills on the bank of the Severnaya Sosva River, at its junction with the Ob River. It has more than once suffered from conflagrations, including fires in 1719 and 1808, the yearly mean temperature is +4 °C, with the low being −44 °C. Some ill-documented Russian trade took place in the area before the Russian conquest of Siberia, Beryozovo was founded in 1593 on the Severnaya Sosva route across the Ural Mountains to the fur-rich Mangazeya region. Ostyaks besieged the settlement in 1592,1697, and 1608 and it grew into a town of Beryozov in Tobolsk Governorate. By the late 17th century most trade had shifted south to Verkhoturye, Prince Menshikov, the favorite of Peter the Great and of Catherine I, died here in exile in 1729. In 1730 Menshikovs enemy and rival, Alexey Grigoryevich Dolgorukov, was interned here with his family, in his account of his expedition, Delisle mentions the name of the incumbent governor of Beryozovo, Fyodor Ivanov Schulginoff. During his sojourn in Beryozovo, where he lodged in the house of the hetman of the Cossacks, Delisle visited the church founded by Menschikoff, the town has a cathedral, near which lie buried Mary Menshikova and some of the Dolgorukovs. In 1742 the Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna banished General Ostermann to Beryozov with his wife, in the mid-18th century, gold was discovered at Beryozovo — Siberias first important gold mine. Serfs and convicts worked the mine under primitive conditions and produced about 400 ounces a year, in the 1960s, gas fields were discovered near its lower course, causing major population growth in the area. Transport is by boat or by ice road. After 1825, Beryozovo became a place of exile for many of the Decembrists, in the 20th century, the Tsarist regime also banished a number of revolutionaries to the area. In 1907, on his way to exile in Obdorsk, Trotsky escaped from Beryozovo on 12/13 February and it had taken him 33 days by train and horse to travel from St Petersburg. He mentions the exiling of Prince Menshikov

22.
Ob River
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The Ob River, also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the worlds seventh-longest river. It forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun Rivers which have their origins in the Altay Mountains and it is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean. The Gulf of Ob is the worlds longest estuary, the Ob is known to the Khanty people as the As, Yag, Kolta and Yema, to the Nenets people as the Kolta or Kuay, and to the Siberian Tatars as the Umar or Omass. Possibly from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ap-, river, water, the Ob forms 25 km southwest of Biysk in Altai Krai at the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers. Both these streams have their origin in the Altay Mountains, the Biya issuing from Lake Teletskoye, the Obs entire main course is within Russia, though its tributaries extend into Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia. The river splits into more than one arm, especially after joining the large Irtysh tributary at about 69° E, from the source of the Irtysh to the mouth of the Ob, the river flow is the longest in Russia at 5,410 kilometres. Other noteworthy tributaries are, from the east, the Tom, Chulym, Ket, Tym and Vakh rivers, and, from the west and south, the Vasyugan, Irtysh, and Sosva Rivers. The combined Ob-Irtysh system, the fourth-longest river system of Asia, is 5,410 kilometres long, the river basin of the Ob consists mostly of steppe, taiga, swamps, tundra, and semi-desert topography. The floodplains of the Ob are characterized by many tributaries and lakes. The Ob is ice-bound at southern Barnaul from early in November to near the end of April, the Ob River crosses several climatic zones. The upper Ob valley, in the south, grows grapes, melons and watermelons, the most comfortable climate for the rest on the Ob are Biysk, Barnaul, and Novosibirsk. The Ob is used mostly for irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectric energy, the navigable waters within the Ob basin reach a total length of 15,000 km. Until the early 20th century, an important western river port was Tyumen, located on the Tura River. In the eastern reaches of the Ob basin, Tomsk on the Tom River was an important terminus, Tyumen had its first steamboat in 1836, and the middle reaches of the Ob have been navigated by steamboats since 1845. Steamboats started operating on the Yenisei in 1863, on the Lena, in 1916 there were 49 steamers on the Ob,10 on the Yenesei. The Trans-Siberian Railway, once completed, provided for more direct, but the Ob river system still remained important for connecting the huge expanses of Tyumen Oblast and Tomsk Oblast with the major cities along the Trans-Siberian route, such as Novosibirsk or Omsk. A dam was built near Novosibirsk in 1956, which created the then-largest artificial lake in Siberia, the project never left the drawing board, abandoned in 1986 due to economic and environmental considerations. In its early years of operation, the Mayak plant released vast quantities of contaminated water into several small lakes near the plant

23.
Yermak Timofeyevich
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Vasiliy Yermak Timofeyevich Alenin was a Cossack who started the Russian conquest of Siberia, in the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Russians fur-trade interests fueled their desire to expand east into Siberia, the tsars ultimate goal was to extend all the way to the Bering Strait. The Tatar khanate of Kazan was established as the best entryway into Siberia, in 1552, Ivan the Terribles modernized army toppled the khanate. After the takeover of Kazan, the tsar looked to the powerful, in the late 1570s, the Stroganovs recruited Cossack fighters to invade Asia on behalf of the tsar. These Cossacks elected Yermak as the leader of their armed forces, on October 26,1582, Yermak and his soldiers overthrew Kuchum Khans Tatar empire at Qashliq in a battle that marked the conquest of Siberia. Yermak remained in Siberia and continued his struggle against the Tatars until 1584, the specifics of Yermaks life, such as his appearance, background, and dates of events, remain points of controversy for historians because the texts that document his life are not reliable. There is less information about Yermak than most other notable explorers, much of what we know about Yermak is derived from folklore and legend. There are no descriptions of Yermak and all portraits are merely estimations. In addition to his features being unknown, the details of Yermak’s life. Russian writer Valentin Rasputin laments the lack of information that we have about Yermak considering the vast scope of his contributions to Russian society and our knowledge of Yermak’s upbringing and voyages pales in comparison to that of other renowned explorers such as Christopher Columbus. Historians encounter serious difficulties when attempting to piece together the specifics of Yermak’s life and these sources are the Stroganov Chronicle, another one of the Siberian chronicles, and the Sinodik. The Stroganov Chronicle was commissioned by the Stroganov family itself, therefore it exaggerates the family’s involvement in the conquest of Siberia, the Sinodik is an account of Yermak’s campaign written forty years after his death by the archbishop of Tobolsk, Cyprian. The text was formed based on tradition and memories of his expedition. The combination of forgotten details over time and the embellishment or omission of facts in order for Yermak to be accepted as a saint suggests that the Sinodik could be erroneous. Though Cyprian failed to canonize Yermak, he made an effort to immortalize the warrior and these documents, along with the various others that chronicle Yermak’s expeditions, are filled with contradictions that make the truth about Yermak’s life difficult to discern. Yermak is typically described as brutal, cunning, and daring and he also liked describing himself as we instead of I. However, these descriptions may be attributable to the characteristics of a Cossack. According to Rasputin, Cossack is a Tatar word that translates as daredevil, bold spirit, in official documents, Cossacks were referred to as vagabonds, thieves, robbers, deserters, and runaway peasants

24.
Alexander Suvorov
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Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov was a Russian military leader and considered a national hero. He was the Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Italy, Suvorov was born in Moscow in 1729. He studied military history as a boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17. During the Seven Years War he was promoted to colonel in 1762 for his success on the battlefield, when war broke out with the Bar Confederation in 1768, Suvorov captured Krakow and defeated the Poles at Lanckorona and Stołowicze, bringing about the start of the Partitions of Poland. He was promoted to general and next fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, becoming the General of the Infantry in 1786, he commanded in the Russo–Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won crushing victories at the Battle of Rymnik and Siege of Izmail. For his accomplishments, he was made a Count of both the Russian Empire and Holy Roman Empire, Suvorov put down a Polish uprising in 1794, defeating them at the Battle of Maciejowice and storming Warsaw. While a close associate of Empress Catherine the Great, Suvorov often quarreled with her son, after Catherine died of a stroke in 1796, Paul I was crowned Emperor and dismissed Suvorov for disregarding his orders. However, he was forced to reinstate Suvorov and make him a marshal at the insistence of the coalition allies for the French Revolutionary Wars. Suvorov was given command of the Austro-Russian army, captured Milan, and drove the French out of Italy at the Battles of Cassano dAdda, Trebbia, Suvorov was made a Prince of Italy for his deeds. Afterwards he became surrounded in the Swiss Alps by the French after a Russian army he was supposed to unite with was routed before he could arrive and he died in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg. Suvorov is considered one of the greatest Russian commanders and he was awarded numerous medals, titles, and honors by Russia, as well as by other countries. Suvorov secured Russia expanded borders, renewed military prestige, and a legacy of theories on warfare and he was famed for his military manual The Science of Victory and noted for several of his sayings. Several military academies, monuments, villages, museums, and orders are dedicated to him, Suvorov was born into a noble family originating from Novgorod at the Moscow mansion of his maternal grandfather Fedosey Manukov. His father, Vasiliy Suvorov, was a general-in-chief and a senator in the Governing Senate and his paternal ancestors had emigrated from Sweden in 1622. His mother, Avdotya Fyodorovna née Manukova, was the daughter of Fedosey Manukov, the name Manukov might be a russified version of the Armenian name Manukian. Still Armenian heritage of Suvorov is considered an unproven legend, there is no academic research or source in Russia that can confirm or deny the origin of Suvorovs paternal or maternal ancestors. There are some claims that he told the Swedish ambassador to Russia in 1791 that his family came from Sweden. Those statements are not reliable due the unknown context of discussion, as a boy, Suvorov was a sickly child and his father assumed he would work in civil service as an adult

25.
Nicholas II of Russia
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Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his forced abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic, Soviet historiography portrayed Nicholas as a weak and incompetent leader, whose decisions led to military defeats and the deaths of millions of his subjects. The Anglo-Russian Entente, designed to counter German attempts to influence in the Middle East. Nicholas approved the Russian mobilisation on 30 July 1914, which led to Germany declaring war on Russia on 1 August 1914 and it is estimated that around 3,300,000 Russians were killed in World War I. Following the February Revolution of 1917, Nicholas abdicated on behalf of himself and his son, Nicholas, the recovered remains of the Imperial Family were finally re-interred in St. Petersburg, eighty years to the day on 17 July 1998. In 1981, Nicholas, his wife and their children were canonized as martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, located in New York City. On 15 August 2000 Nicholas and his family were canonized as passion bearers, Nicholas was born in the Alexander Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia. He had five siblings, Alexander, George, Xenia, Michael. Nicholas often referred to his father nostalgically in letters after Alexanders death in 1894 and he was also very close to his mother, as revealed in their published letters to each other. His paternal grandparents were Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia and his maternal grandparents were King Christian IX and Queen Louise of Denmark. Nicholas was of primarily German and Danish descent, his last ethnically Russian ancestor being Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, Nicholas was related to several monarchs in Europe. His mothers siblings included Kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of Greece, Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany were all first cousins of King George V of the United Kingdom. Nicholas was also a first cousin of both King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway, as well as King Constantine I of Greece, Tsar Nicholas II was the first cousin-once-removed of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich. To distinguish between them the Grand Duke was often known within the Imperial family as Nikolasha and Nicholas the Tall, while the Tsar was Nicholas the Short. In his childhood, Nicholas, his parents and siblings made annual visits to the Danish royal palaces of Fredensborg and Bernstorff to visit his grandparents, the king and queen. The visits also served as family reunions, as his mothers siblings would come from the United Kingdom, Germany. It was there in 1883, that he had a flirtation with one of his English first cousins, in 1873, Nicholas also accompanied his parents and younger brother, two-year-old George, on a two-month, semi-official visit to England. In London, Nicholas and his family stayed at Marlborough House, as guests of his Uncle Bertie and Aunt Alix, the Prince and Princess of Wales, where he was spoiled by his uncle

26.
Pyotr Konchalovsky
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Pyotr Konchalovsky was a Russian painter, a member of the Jack of Diamonds group. Pyotr Konchalovsky was born in the village of Slavianka, Kharkov gubernia on 21 February 1876 and his father was an art publisher. In 1889, the Konchalovskys moved to Moscow and their house became a part of the Moscow art scene of the 1890s and their house was often visited by Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Vasily Surikov. Later, Pyotr married a daughter of Vasily Surikov, who praised the art of his son-in-law. During his gymnasium years Konchalovsky attended classes of Moscow School of Painting, in 1896-1898 he traveled to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian. In 1899, he returned to Russia and entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, at the Academy, he studied under Savinsky, Zaleman and Kovalevsky. Since 1909, he exhibited frequently, participating in the Golden Fleece, Fraternity, Mir Iskusstva and he was a founding member of the society Jack of Diamonds in 1909. Beginning in 1918 he taught art, in 1922, he had his first solo exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery. During that period, he mostly drew still lifes and landscapes and his paintings—as of all other Jacks of Diamond—were strongly influenced by Paul Cézanne. Later he started to paint portraits that were considered as the examples of Socialist Realism style, Pyotr Konchalovsky was a very prolific painter, and is known to have created more than five thousand works. Many of his descendants were people in the world of art and his son Mikhail Petrovich Konchalovsky was a notable painter. They have two sons, Andrei Konchalovsky is a writer, director and a painter, whose son Egor is also a notable film director. Nikita Mikhalkov is also a director who won the 1994 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for Burnt by the Sun. Official Website of the Petr Konchalovsky Foundation Biography and art of Konchalovsky Art of Konchalovsky Art of Konchalovsky

27.
Crimea
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The peninsula is located south of the Ukrainian region of Kherson and west of the Russian region of Kuban. It is connected to Kherson Oblast by the Isthmus of Perekop and is separated from Kuban by the Strait of Kerch, the Arabat Spit is located to the northeast, a narrow strip of land that separates a system of lagoons named Sivash from the Sea of Azov. Crimea has historically been at the boundary between the world and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Crimea and adjacent territories were united in the Crimean Khanate during the 15th to 18th century, in 1783, Crimea was annexed by the Russian Empire. It became the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within newly independent Ukraine in 1991, with Sevastopol having its own administration, within Ukraine, the ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet and its facilities were divided between Russias Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Naval Forces. The two navies shared some of the harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remained the location of the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval Forces Headquarters also based in the city, most of the international community does not recognize the annexation and considers Crimea to be Ukrainian territory. Russia currently administers the peninsula as two federal subjects, the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Ukraine continues to assert its right over the peninsula, the classical name Tauris or Taurica is from the Greek Ταυρική, after the peninsulas Scytho-Cimmerian inhabitants, the Tauri. In English usage since the modern period the Crimean Khanate is referred to as Crim Tartary. The Italian form Crimea also becomes current during the 18th century, the omission of the definite article in English became common during the later 20th century. The name Crimea follows the Italian form from the Crimean Tatar name for the city Qırım which served as a capital of the Crimean province of the Golden Horde, the name of the capital was extended to the entire peninsula at some point during Ottoman suzerainty. The origin of the word Qırım is uncertain, suggestions argued in various sources include, a corruption of Cimmerium. A derivation from the Turkic term qirum, from qori-, other suggestions that have not been supported by sources but are apparently based on similarity in sound include, a derivation from the Greek Cremnoi. However, he identifies the port, not in Crimea, no evidence has been identified that this name was ever in use for the peninsula. The classical name was revived in 1802 in the name of the Russian Taurida Governorate, in the 8th century BCE the Cimmerians migrated to the region and subsequently the Scythians as well it being the site of Greek colonies. The most important city was Chersonesos at the edge of todays Sevastopol, the Persian Achaemenid Empire expanded to Crimea. Later occupiers included the Romans, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, the Byzantine Empire, Khazars, the Kipchaks, the Golden Horde, consideration of the succeeding residents of the peninsula by their linguistic grouping is also of relevance

28.
Mosfilm
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Mosfilm is a film studio that is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. The Moscow film production unit with studio facilities was established in November 1923 by the motion picture mogul Aleksandr Khanzhonkov, ermolev as a unit of the Goskino works. The first movie filmed by Mosfilm was On the Wings Skyward, in 1927 the construction of a new film studio complex began on Mosfilmovskaya Street in Sparrow Hills of Moscow. This film studio was named after the Moscow amalgamated factory Soyuzkino the Tenth Anniversary of the October, in 1934 the film studio was renamed to Moskinokombinat, and in 1936 – to Mosfilm. During World War II the film studio personnel were evacuated to Alma-Ata, the Mosfilm personnel returned to Moscow at the end of 1943. By the time the Soviet Union was no more, Mosfilm had produced more than 3,000 films, many film classics were shot at Mosfilm throughout its history and some of these were granted international awards at various film festivals. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Mosfilm continued operations as a production company. As of 2005, the company embraced ten independent studios, located within 13 sound stages occupying an area of 13,000 sq. meters, tours through this Russian Hollywood become increasingly popular, as they allow to view Mosfilms enormous depot with 170 tanks and 50 vintage cars. The biggest sound stage is leased annually to hold the Golden Eagle Awards, in 2011 Mosfilm released a selection of its classic films online for free viewing. 1968 The Diamond Arm directed by Leonid Gaidai 1969 Liberation directed by Yuri Ozerov 1969 The Brothers Karamazov,1969 White Sun of the Desert directed by Vladimir Motyl 1971 Tchaikovsky directed by Igor Talankin, Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1971 nominee. 1981 Private Life directed by Yuli Raizman, Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1981 nominant,1981 Teheran 431982 Lenin in Paris 1985 Come and See directed by Elem Klimov 1986 Kin-dza-dza

29.
Larisa Kadochnikova
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Larisa Kadochnikova is a Ukrainian and Russian actress. She appeared in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a 1964 film directed by Sergei Paradjanov, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors has been viewed as one of the most vivid and gratifying films of Soviet cinema as well as an exceedingly unorthodox one. The storyline revolves around two separated lovers caught in a family feud, the film created a stir worldwide, being praised for its direction, cinematography and soundtrack, among other aspects. Media related to Larisa Kadochnikova at Wikimedia Commons Larisa Kadochnikova at the Internet Movie Database

30.
Streltsy uprising
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The Streltsy Uprising of 1698 was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments. Others see it as a riot against the yoke of oppression, military-service hardships. The Moscow Streltsy, who had participated in Peter the Greats Azov campaigns in 1695–1696, in 1697, however, the four regiments of Streltsy were unexpectedly sent to Velikiye Luki instead of Moscow. On their way there they were starving and carrying their ordnance by themselves due to absence of horses, in March 1698,175 Streltsy left their regiments and fled to Moscow to file a complaint. They secretly established contact with Sophia Alekseyevna, who had been incarcerated at the Novodevichy Monastery, the runaway Streltsy, despite their resistance, were sent back to their regiments, giving rise to discontent among the rest of them. The rebels intended to install Sophia or, in case of her refusal, her alleged lover Vasili Golitsyn, Peter I ordered four regiments and a cavalry unit under the command of Aleksey Shein and Patrick Gordon to attack the Streltsy. On 18 June, the Streltsy were defeated not far from the New Jerusalem Monastery 40 km west of Moscow, Peter availed himself of savage tortures while investigating the incident. Many suspects were whipped to death with the knout, a stout leather whip composed of numerous twisted strands. Peter thus induced suspect after suspect to name accomplices in a virtually unending cavalcade of forced, as a result of a major investigation,57 Streltsy were executed and the rest sent into exile. Upon his hurried return from London on 25 August 1698, Peter I ordered another investigation, between September 1698 and February 1699,1,182 Streltsy were executed and 601 were whipped, branded with iron, or sent into exile. The investigation and executions continued up until 1707, the Moscow regiments, which had not participated in the uprising, were later disbanded. Streltsy and their members were removed from Moscow. Alexander Moutchnik, Der Strelitzen-Aufstand von 1698, in, Volksaufstände in Russland, von der Zeit der Wirren bis zur Grünen Revolution gegen die Sowjetherrschaft, hrsg. von Heinz-Dietrich Löwe. 65, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden,2006, S. 163–196

31.
Feodosia Morozova
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Feodosia Prokopiyevna Morozova was one of the best-known partisans of the Old Believer movement. She was perceived as a martyr after she was arrested and died in prison and she was born on May 21,1632 into a family of the okolnichy Prokopy Feodorovich Sokovnin. At the age of 17, she was married to the boyar Gleb Morozov, brother to the tsars tutor Boris Morozov, Feodosia bore one child to Gleb, a son, Ivan. After her husbands death in 1662, she retained a prominent position at the Russian court as a lady-in-waiting to Tsarina Maria. She also inherited vast wealth, which she administered on behalf of her son Ivan, during the Raskol, because Archpriest Avvakum was her confessor, Feodosia joined the Old Believers movement and secretly took monastic vows with the name Theodora. She played an important role in convincing her sister, Princess Evdokia Urusova and they were also joined by fellow noblewoman Maria Danilova. After many misfortunes the two sisters and Danilova were arrested by order of Tsar Alexis of Russia in 1671 and they were interrogated and tortured over a long period, but refused to recant. Attempts to reach a compromise led by Patriarch Pitirim were also rejected, while she was under arrest, her son Ivan died. Alexis contemplated having Morozova burned at the stake, but was dissuaded, instead she and the others were incarcerated in an underground cellar of the St. Paphnutius Monastery at Borovsk, where they endured considerable deprivations. After the appointment of a new Patriarch, Ioakim, they were deprived of all support and were slowly starved, all three succumbed, probably to starvation, in 1675, with Morozova dying on December 1. Avvakum wrote a Lament for the three martyrs, a hagiography, Tale of Boiarynia Morozov, by an unknown author, gave an account of her life as a martyr. The story circulated widely and miracles were attributed to Morozova by Old Believers, many Old Believer communities continue to venerate her as a martyr. Nevertheless, her reputation was limited until Morozovas role as a representative of Russian identity and she became a household name after being discussed by important Russian writers and depicted by Vasily Surikov. She was also taken as a heroine by some radical groups, a chapel was constructed in 2002 on the site of the prison where Morozova died. Excerpts from Avvakums correspondence with Morozova

32.
Bronze Horseman
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The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet, the name comes from an 1833 poem of the same name by Aleksander Pushkin, which is widely considered one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, the statues pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, the largest stone ever moved by humans. The stone originally weighed about 1500 tonnes, and was carved down to 1250 during transportation to its current site, the equestrian statue of Peter the Great is situated in the Senate Square, in Saint Petersburg. Catherine the Great, a German princess who married into the Romanov line, was anxious to connect herself to Peter the Great to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the people. Having gained her position through a coup, Catherine had no legal claim to the throne. In correspondence with Catherine the Great, Denis Diderot suggested French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet, the empress followed his advice and Falconet arrived in Russia in 1766. In 1775 the casting of the statue began, supervised by caster Emelyan Khailov, at one point during the casting, the mould broke, releasing molten bronze that started several fires. All the workers ran except Khailov, who risked his life to salvage the casting, after being remelted and recast, the statue was later finished. It took 12 years, from 1770 to 1782, to create the Bronze Horseman, including pedestal, horse, the tsars face is the work of the young Marie-Anne Collot, then only 18 years old. She had accompanied Falconet as an apprentice on his trip to Russia in 1766, a student of Falconet and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Collot was called Mademoiselle Victoire by Diderot. She modelled Peter the Greats face on his mask and numerous portraits she found in Saint Petersburg. The right hand of the statue was modelled from a Roman bronze hand, found in 1771 in Voorburg in the Netherlands at the site of the ancient Roman town Forum Hadriani. On 7 August 1782, fourteen years after excavation of the pedestal began, conspicuously absent was Falconet, as a misunderstanding between him and the empress turned into a serious conflict. As a result, he was forced to leave Russia four years before the project was completed, Catherine largely forgot about him afterwards, and came to see the Bronze Horseman as her own oeuvre. The statue portrays Peter the Great sitting heroically on his horse, the sculptor wished to capture the exact moment of his horse rearing at the edge of a dramatic cliff. His horse can be seen trampling a serpent, variously interpreted to represent treachery, evil, or the enemies of Peter, the statue itself is about 6 m tall, while the pedestal is another 7 m tall, for a total of approximately 13 m. For the pedestal, an enormous granite monolith boulder known as the Thunder Stone was found at Lakhta,6 km inland from the Gulf of Finland in 1768

33.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

34.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format

35.
National Library of Australia
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In 2012–2013, the National Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, and an additional 15,506 metres of manuscript material. In 1901, a Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was established to serve the newly formed Federal Parliament of Australia, from its inception the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library was driven to development of a truly national collection. The present library building was opened in 1968, the building was designed by the architectural firm of Bunning and Madden. The foyer is decorated in marble, with windows by Leonard French. In 2012–2013 the Library collection comprised 6,496,772 items, the Librarys collections of Australiana have developed into the nations single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage. Australian writers, editors and illustrators are actively sought and well represented—whether published in Australia or overseas, approximately 92. 1% of the Librarys collection has been catalogued and is discoverable through the online catalogue. The Library has digitized over 174,000 items from its collection and, the Library is a world leader in digital preservation techniques, and maintains an Internet-accessible archive of selected Australian websites called the Pandora Archive. A core Australiana collection is that of John A. Ferguson, the Library has particular collection strengths in the performing arts, including dance. The Librarys considerable collections of general overseas and rare materials, as well as world-class Asian. The print collections are further supported by extensive microform holdings, the Library also maintains the National Reserve Braille Collection. The Library has acquired a number of important Western and Asian language scholarly collections from researchers, williams Collection The Asian Collections are searchable via the National Librarys catalogue. The National Library holds a collection of pictures and manuscripts. The manuscript collection contains about 26 million separate items, covering in excess of 10,492 meters of shelf space, the collection relates predominantly to Australia, but there are also important holdings relating to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific. The collection also holds a number of European and Asian manuscript collections or single items have received as part of formed book collections. Examples are the papers of Alfred Deakin, Sir John Latham, Sir Keith Murdoch, Sir Hans Heysen, Sir John Monash, Vance Palmer and Nettie Palmer, A. D. Hope, Manning Clark, David Williamson, W. M. The Library has also acquired the records of many national non-governmental organisations and they include the records of the Federal Secretariats of the Liberal party, the A. L. P, the Democrats, the R. S. L. Finally, the Library holds about 37,000 reels of microfilm of manuscripts and archival records, mostly acquired overseas and predominantly of Australian, the National Librarys Pictures collection focuses on Australian people, places and events, from European exploration of the South Pacific to contemporary events. Art works and photographs are acquired primarily for their informational value, media represented in the collection include photographs, drawings, watercolours, oils, lithographs, engravings, etchings and sculpture/busts

36.
Netherlands Institute for Art History
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The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in documentation, archives, and books on Western art from the late Middle Ages until modern times, all of this is open to the public, and much of it has been digitized and is available on their website. The main goal of the bureau is to collect, categorize, via the available databases, the visitor can gain insight into archival evidence on the lives of many artists of past centuries. The library owns approximately 450,000 titles, of which ca.150,000 are auction catalogs, there are ca.3,000 magazines, of which 600 are currently running subscriptions. Though most of the text is in Dutch, the record format includes a link to library entries and images of known works. The RKD also manages the Dutch version of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus, the original version is an initiative of the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, California. Their bequest formed the basis for both the art collection and the library, which is now housed in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Though not all of the holdings have been digitised, much of its metadata is accessible online. The website itself is available in both a Dutch and an English user interface, in the artist database RKDartists, each artist is assigned a record number. To reference an artist page directly, use the code listed at the bottom of the record, usually of the form, https, for example, the artist record number for Salvador Dalí is 19752, so his RKD artist page can be referenced. In the images database RKDimages, each artwork is assigned a record number, to reference an artwork page directly, use the code listed at the bottom of the record, usually of the form, https, //rkd. nl/en/explore/images/ followed by the artworks record number. For example, the record number for The Night Watch is 3063. The Art and Architecture Thesaurus also assigns a record for each term, rather, they are used in the databases and the databases can be searched for terms. For example, the painting called The Night Watch is a militia painting, the thesaurus is a set of general terms, but the RKD also contains a database for an alternate form of describing artworks, that today is mostly filled with biblical references. To see all images that depict Miriams dance, the associated iconclass code 71E1232 can be used as a search term. Official website Direct link to the databases The Dutch version of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus

37.
Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records

The Russian Empire (Russian: Россійская Имперія) was an empire that existed from 1721, following the end of the Great …

Peter the Great officially renamed the Tsardom of Russia as the Russian Empire in 1721 and became its first emperor. He instituted sweeping reforms and oversaw the transformation of Russia into a major European power.

The original National Library building on Kings Avenue, Canberra, was designed by Edward Henderson. Originally intended to be several wings, only one wing was completed and was demolished in 1968. Now the site of the Edmund Barton Building.